An Edhi Foundation Home for Women and Children in Karachi. The facility currently holds some 1600 women and 150 children with a staff of 25. No men are permitted to reside at the facility. Te shelter acts as a 'catch all' safety net giving those who are mentally or physically disabled as well as those who have no where else to go a refuge in a the absence of any state help. most children at the facility have been abandoned by their families, others were street children caught begging by the police and brought to the facility. Most people at the facility have nothing in the way of personal possessions, the clothes they wear are mostly donated. there are no education facilities on site and medical support is basic at best.
The mentally disabled patients receive occasional consultant visits and whilst they are administered prescribed medicines to keep them manageable, no measures are taken to improve their condition or help them become independent in their daily routine.
The Edhi facility is able to meet merely their survival needs of women and children. Some patients are visited by relatives, very few leave the facility unless there is a guarantee of care from a relative.
In a country of some 160 million people, affordable medicines and diagnostic tests are beyond the reach of most people in Pakistan. The country suffers from shortage of doctors and government funded healthcare facilities; to many on low income levels, basic health care is a luxury. The rich and middle class get the best treatment whilst the poor reply on the work of a welfare trust by the name Edhi Foundation.
The Edhi foundation was established by Abdul Sattar Edhi. Born in a small Indian own of Bantva in the province of Gujrat he migrated to Pakistan during partition in 1947. After working as a commissioning agent selling cloth in a market in Karachi Abdul Sattar Edhi and other members of his community decided to establish a free dispensary in the city. Disillusionment with the lack of health